It’s been a very busy and eye-opening first week in Costa Rica. Throughout the week, we visited hospitals and clinics to gain insight into the Costa Rican healthcare system. We spoke with doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff, toured the locations, and observed procedures. Our goal was to recognize the needs of the physicians, staff, patients, and healthcare system in general, which represent possible projects for us to work on throughout the next year. The hospitals and clinics were very different than those in the United States, which was interesting to experience. Even as we saw and heard about many opportunities for improvement, it was amazing to see how committed and passionate everyone was about improving the healthcare experience for patients in any way they can. I look forward to working with some of the people we met throughout the next year.

This week has also been filled with experiencing Costa Rica and its culture for the first time. I’ve eaten delicious Costa Rican dishes and tried my best to order them using my limited Spanish abilities. We traveled to Cartago to visit with students from El Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC) to hear about some of their projects and explore the surrounding area. We also travelled to La Paz Waterfall where we hiked to the gorgeous waterfalls and saw rescued wildlife. Despite a lot of rain and some pretty heavy traffic, Costa Rica is proving to be an amazing place and I am excited to explore more of it in the next two months!

Now that my first week here has ended, my internship at Boston Scientific begins on Monday. I’ve learned a little bit about the projects I will be working on, and am looking forward to finally beginning my time there!